Bloodthirst (1987)

The story idea of a bioweapon created by rogue Star Fleet personnel was put together well. What was not were all the details working towards the conclusion. I have liked other Star Trek stories written by J.M. Dillard but this one had little believability. The story is about a research station which sends out a distress call answered by the Enterprise. They arrive at the base before getting word from Star Fleet to stay away and rescue one person; the other two have had their throats sliced. The doctor rescued seems crazy and light is extremely painful. The major characters are not the usual Star Trek personnel except for Captain Kirk and Dr. McCoy. The use of new characters was well thought out (these characters have been used before by this author) and they played their roles well.

The plot areas which had little believability were mainly two. First, the captured doctor from the research facility escaped and only 24 security personnel out of a crew of over 400 looked for the man. He is carrying a highly contagious and deadly disease and only 24 people are looking for him? The entire ship should have come to a complete stop and every person search for this mad man. No one should have been walking around alone, all rooms checked and then sealed so no one could enter. No stop happened, in fact, the Enterprise continued on its so very important mission on mapping a star field. The second major complaint I have with this book is the crazed scientist can not stand light; it burns his skin and eyes. So what does security do when they enter the main recreation lounge? Keep the lights off of course. The entire Enterprise should have been lit up like a Christmas tree with a 1000 lights.

J.M. Dillard needs to go back and rewrite this story so it would be believable. If you are new to Star Trek fiction stay away from this one. ( )

A fairly intriguing Star trek novel about illegal bioweapons research that produces a virus that turns its victims, for all practical purposes, into vampires. Not quite as hokey as it sounds. ( )